CSOs Urge NASS to Finalize State Police Bill Quickly

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have expressed concerns over the delay in finalizing the State Police bill, urging the leadership of the National Assembly to form a conference committee to reconcile the differing versions passed by the Senate and House of Representatives. This call follows the failure to resolve discrepancies before the National Assembly's two-month annual recess.

Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and Transparency International in Nigeria, emphasized the importance of a single, coherent constitutional proposal to avoid sending conflicting provisions to State Houses of Assembly. He highlighted the urgent need for reform in Nigeria's centralized policing system amid rising insecurity.

Rafsanjani warned that poorly designed State Police could be exploited for political intimidation. Jamilu Charanchi, National Coordinator of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), and Austin Aigbe from the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) also called for consensus among lawmakers to expedite the process.